Affirmative Action?

Chris Massad

Affirmative Action has been a controversial issue worldwide. Affirmative action is a policy that focuses on aiding and favoring those who suffer from racial discrimination. It has been and still is today a problem for university and college admission offices. Many schools believe that affirmative action benefits their classrooms because racial diversity makes for a well-rounded mind and creates opportunities for less fortunate students. Schools like the University of Michigan heavily support the policy, and because the ideology is so controversial, the Supreme Court got involved. “Race cannot be an overriding factor for schools' admissions programs, the court ruled, saying that such plans can lead to unconstitutional policies. In separate decisions the high court struck down a point system used by the University of Michigan's undergraduate programs.”
The unethical question is that is it fair to reject someone from a university solely because of the color of their skin? In 2008, “Ballot measures proposing to ban affirmative action goes before voters in two states, Nebraska and Colorado. The ban passes with more than 50% of the vote in Nebraska. Voters in Colorado, though, reject the proposed ban.”
Many schools however, despite that fact that it creates a diverse student body, are against the ideals of affirmative action. Many universities today believe that it “leads to reverse discrimination, and that it leads to hiring people based on race, gender, etc., rather than merit. They argue that Affirmative Action actually makes people more biased against each other, as it increases the sense of ‘us versus them’." Colleges do enjoy diversity in the classroom but believe that acceptance should be based on merits and credentials not skin color. These schools are typically private institutions and favor giving scholarships to the less fortunate applicants.
It is argued that affirmative action was necessary in the past, but now that the numbers of minorities entering upper-management ranks are growing, discrimination is decreasing, and affirmative action is now unnecessary. Race has been a factor not only in schools, but also in the work place, and it will continue to be in the future. If minorities are not given benefits, they are being discriminated against, but if they are treated equally, reverse discrimination arises. It is an unavoidable conflict, and admission offices are challenged with this issue every year.

Balancing Social Activities with College Workload

by: Kevin Brawley

College is a big transition from high school. You leave home to go to school; for some it is the first time living on your own for an extended amount of time. This gives an immense amount of responsibility to new students to balance their time between going to class, completing assignments and their social life. Once in college, there will be activities going on all around campus every part of the day. High School Versus College Life is a freshman year guide written by Naomi Rockler-Gladen about the big switch from high school to college. The quote that basically sums up the moral of this post is, “In college, you are responsible for your own education. In high school, teachers made sure that you were on track. In college, you are on your own.” She also specifically mentions “to balance work and play.” There will be a ton of work that needs to get done for all the classes one has in college. The professor will not go around giving reminders each day about when something needs to be read or when a big assignment is due. That is the student’s responsibility now that they have reached the college level. Scheduling fun time around the workload is the only way it will get done and you will also have fun. Workload cannot be scheduled around having fun.

This problem of balancing school and social life can affect different types of people in unique ways. The students who went through high school thinking that classes were a breeze and did not have to study for tests, I believe, are the ones that are greatly affected by this problem. If they didn’t have to put forth much effort in high school to succeed, what will make them think that in college will have to put forth effort? This thought process can lead to them skipping classes to go have fun with friends. Nonetheless, even these students eventually find out how to balance their social activities with their workload whether they find out the hard way or by planning out ahead of time.

Why Higher Education????

Aimee Turner

From the introduction of Christopher H. Lucas’ novel entitles, American Higher Education: A History, I was immediately intrigued by the findings about several aspects of higher education in America. Lucas’ introduction was ingenious in the sense that he was able to critique and praise present higher education through his many mediums of research. His disclaimer of such things as the absence of references to educational history throughout Africa, and the eastern hemisphere due to American education roots in Western Europe proved to me that he was sensitive to all aspects from which the history of American higher education could be referenced. In spite of my immense interest in this account of the history of American higher education, those “seldom” few who are not interested in this topic may as the two questions I will address in my blog today. What is the importance of higher education, and why study the history of higher education?

To understand the importance of higher education, we must address the question of what is higher education. Higher education can be defined as a level of education that is provided by universities, vocational universities, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, institutes of Technology, and other collegiate level institutions that award acdemic degrees and or professional certificates. From this definition, it can be concluded that higher education is a level of education after secondary school that rewards academic degrees or certifications; furthermore, higher education gives introduces the academic concept of specialization in one or two fields. In other words, higher education enables you to receive “higher education” but only in a specific educational field.

Why is higher education important? The truth of the matter is that without higher education, we would be living in a world in which everything was bland and uncreative. How I drew this conclusion was that without people who are “specialists” in all fields across the board, everything we not be examined or created to its full potential because no one extensively researched a specific topic. All they would use to solve a “specific” problem is the general ideas we all learned in secondary school.

As Nafeesah Abdullah of www.associatedcontent.com stated, “Many jobs require a degree and a skill combined because the average high school graduate makes about $40,000-$60,000 less than a college graduate with an advanced degree or professional certification.” With that being said, higher education offers the opportunity for specialization in a field of interest, as well as a bigger paycheck!

Starting Off

Xavier Baisden

Higher education. This phrase has many different definitions for different people. Some define higher education as high school, while others define it as a collegiate degree or even post-graduate study. One commonality with all types of higher education is that they are optional. Each person truly can decide whether or not to further their education, and to which degree they wish to do so. The path for higher education truly can be defined as a journey. Personally my definition of higher education, my journey, involves earning a degree in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech. Although it will be a difficult journey, I along with many others here at Georgia Tech are prepared to pursue our individual paths and where they will take us. As we begin our journey here at Georgia Tech, we know that there will be many ups and downs that we will experience, many highs and many lows, many surprises and disappointments. Although we all come in with high expectations, many of us will experience many disappointing and surprising firsts, such as the first time we will actually have to study, the first time we will have to stay up all night doing homework, the first time we will fail a test, and for nearly all of us, the first time we will be truly independent and reap the rewards and repercussions of all of our actions. All of these will come and we will have to experience them with each other. I feel the foremost aspect of this higher education will be finding out who we each individually are. I have already experienced some of these moments during my experience with the Challenge program. However, I still eagerly anticipate both new experiences and new knowledge of who I am, along with who my peers are. Some of us will change, some of us will not succeed, and some of our paths will not be what we expect them to be, but we all will have our personal experiences. Higher Education: The process of finding out who we are and what we will be. That is my definition, and what I look forward to finding out during my journey into higher education.

Facebook in Higher Education

Greg Jones

When one leaves for college they often leave many of their old friends behind. How does one stay in touch with friends of the past? How does one make friends in this new environment that is so foreign to all of us? The answer, is Facebook. But is Facebook good for college students or does it create too big of a distraction? Recently Ohio State University did a study which linked Facebook use and lower grade point average in institutes of higher learning. The study itself, which surveyed just over two-hundred people, shows that students that use Facebook studied approximately ten hours less a week than those that didn't use Facebook. The study, however, does have some flaws and many people point out that other procrastination tools, such as television, could have a similar affect on study times. I also did some research of my own and discovered that over 85% of college students have a Facebook. This might put those 15% that do not have a Facebook in a completely different category of student that was more likely to study and get better grades than the rest of the student body regardless of the distraction Facebook might provide. As a result of these studies, many professors have begun to ban laptop use in their classrooms to prevent the temptation of logging onto Facebook and becoming distracted from the lecture.



But Facebook isn't all bad, in fact there are some that claim Facebook could be good for students attending college. Most notably, EDUCAUSE (who's goal is to "advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology") has put out some startling research (HERE and HERE) on the subject. They even went so far as to put out a pamphlet aimed at college professors that explains what Facebook is and why it is essential in teaching and learning environments. They have also theorized that Facebook allows college students to become better connected and cope with any feelings of depression, anxiety, stress and homesickness they might feel when first beginning college.

So what does this all mean to the average college student? Should they be using Facebook or not? The answer to that question isn't simply a yes or a no but, in my opinion, is a combination of the two. Facebook is an easy way to meet new people and make friends, which are both crucial for a new college student. But it shouldn't detract from your school work. You shouldn't use it to drown out a professor whos lectures you find particularly boring and it shouldn't be utilized to procrastinate assignments that deep down you know need to be done. Students aren't going to stop using Facebook simply because they are in an environment that challenges them more than the last, but they should proceed with caution and make sure that it doesn't detract from either their studies or activities they could be participating in.